Our Home: New Kitchen Backsplash!

It’s no secret that the kitchen is my favorite place in our home. When we first looked at our townhouse (reminder: it was the only property we saw during our very brief house hunt) I didn’t need to look much further once I laid my eyes on the wide open kitchen, plentiful counter space, and ample cabinet and pantry storage. I knew it would do the trick. For the past five months (has it really been five months already?) it certainly has.

Although the kitchen is entirely functional, we knew we wanted to make some improvements for it to appear more finished. To be perfectly honest, we really, really, really wanted to paint the cabinets white. But after several contractors (and my dad) warned us against it we decided to nix that plan and keep them as is.

Once we scratched that off our list, installing a backsplash became priority numero uno.

Before we dove into the project we made a very big decision. We enlisted the help of a wonderful interior designer, Jana Bek, to help us with several spaces throughout our home. Fancy shmancy, I know. Robert and I have both accepted that interior design isn’t our greatest talent. It is, however, important to us to live in a bright, cozy, and welcoming space. I stumbled upon Jana’s work through a link to a Pottery Barn blog post on Instagram (hello living in the 21st century!) and loved what I saw: Bright, airy spaces with a blend of neutrals and pops of color that felt completely comfortable and livable. Jana does e-design, which means she doesn’t come to our home (though you’re always welcome here, Jana!). We work through photos, FaceTime, and Pinterest (don’t you love living in the future?) Working with our tastes, preferences, and budget she creates storyboards that reflect what each space will look like. We make tweaks back-and-forth along the way and then carry it out!

For the backsplash, Jana sent us links to a few tile suggestions. The one Robert and I chose is something we would have never found on our own and we couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. It’s bright, clean, and cheery and looks like it’s always been there. I think it even makes the maple cabinets and black granite countertops look a little happier, too!

To see what a big difference the backsplash has made here’s a little before and after action:

Before:

After:

Swoon. Huge improvement, wouldn’t you say?

The next task is finding a kitchen rug to cozy-up the space even more. Early next year we’re having most rooms in our house painted so we’re (hopefully) deciding on paint colors soon. Stay tuned for more adventures in creating this space we love to call home.